25 May 2016
More than 1000 teachers, principals, administrators and education leaders attended Cambridge-led sessions at the National Conference on Magnet Schools in the US recently to hear how Cambridge programmes have transformed education in Miami-Dade schools.
Magnet schools are US public schools that have a focused theme and aligned curricula. Many magnet schools choose Cambridge programmes as their focus in order to cater for students who want to follow an international curriculum.
We hosted two sessions at the conference in Miami, Florida on 3 to 7 May. Cambridge Education Director, Tristian Stobie, spoke about the practices that lead to educational excellence – practices which are grounded on lessons and research learnt from around the world.
The second session looked in detail at Cambridge curricula. To demonstrate the Cambridge approach, Anne Needham, Special Adviser, Global Perspectives, led an interactive Global Perspectives & Research exercise with the session participants.
Celebrating our collaboration with Miami-Dade schools
The conference took place in the Miami-Dade School District, the fourth largest school district in the US, with 392 schools, over 345,000 students and over 40,000 employees. Miami-Dade is testament to the powerful impact of Cambridge programmes on student performance.
On 22 May 2013, Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, Alberto Carvalho and Michael O’Sullivan, Chief Executive of Cambridge Assessment International Education, announced a three-year plan to expand Cambridge programmes in Miami-Dade schools. This important collaboration resulted in Miami- Dade growing to 70 Cambridge schools using curricula and educational practices for grades K-12. These curricula include Cambridge Primary for elementary schools, Cambridge Secondary 1 for middle schools, and Cambridge IGCSE and the Cambridge AICE Diploma for high schools.
In addition to the two sessions, the conference also celebrated the presence of Cambridge in Miami-Dade schools. During the conference, attendees were able to go on school tours, with 8 of the 25 tours being to Cambridge schools. During these tours, attendees were able to see Cambridge "in action" in the classroom including many Cambridge student performances (grades K-12).
Cambridge Assessment International Education also awarded a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating senior from Norland Senior High School to apply towards post-secondary education.
It was a great moment for Cambridge to celebrate our relationship with schools and educators.
Hear Miami-Dade students talk about their experiences